Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 14A
. FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wedneeday, June 3,1 W»
Opinion
Changing times and
changing landscapes
Some call it progress, while others no doubt object to that description.
It’s not progress; it’s just change for the sake of change and that’s not
necessarily good. In fact, the change could mean an end to away of
life.
“We’re trying to preserve away of life,” said Brian Roberts
before the May 27 public hearing of Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners. At issue was a rezoning application to change 136 acres of agri
cultural property into residential land for 176 new households. Roberts and oth
ers call it “spot zoning” -- dropping a large neighborhood into a farming area.
Tony Gravitt agreed. “Believe it or not, there are still some people in this
county making a living in agriculture,” he said, pointing out that he has cattle
and also poultry houses.
The changing landscape is requiring a change of plans - land use plans.
The county’s land use plan, which a group of 10 was chartered to create, is a
vision, a menu that we can all work towards as the county moves into the 21st
century. Land use plans are designed, by their very nature, to be updated every
five years, according to Ross Statham, one of the committee members. The
county’s Planning and Development Department has set as a goal to update this
new plan annually, and to completely re-write it in another five years.
The plan is a document-in-process, just as this county is a-changing.
Dr. Rupert H. Bramblett
closes career with honor
Dr. Rupert H. Bramblett has been doctoring in Forsyth County for more than
a five decades and this week he marks his retirement. After 53 years of providing
care to countless individuals and families, Dr. Bramblett is concluding his active
practice.
His contributions to the local community and the state’s medical community
were saluted last month by the Medical Association of Georgia with the
announcement of his recognition as the winner of 1998 Distinguished Service
Award.
The association paid tribute to Bramblett’s “remarkable record of service to
his community and to his profession for the past 50 years.” He followed in the
footsteps of his father and his grandfather.
He was the first chief of staff for the Forsyth County Hospital when the Hill-
Burton Act medical facility was opened in 1957 and was the County Physician
for a number of years.
Also a Past Grand Master of the Masons, Dr. Bramblett has been been active
in other aspects of Forsyth County community life as well. He was saluted in our
February 1997 “Men of Forsyth” and he is deserving of tribute for his
Distinguished Service honors and on his retirement.
What do you think?
Should Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds be allo
cated to make infrastructure improvements in established devel
opments in which the developer elected not to finance the work
at the time of development, requiring sometimes-costly retro
fitting? Should the improvements in roads, water lines and other
types of infrastructure be financed by ad valorem taxpayers, i.e.,
from the general fund budget of the county? Or should special
tax districts be created to allow the residents of the areas where
the improvements are needed to finance their own projects over
a period of time?
Forsyth County News
j P.O. Box 210
Cumming, Ga. 30028
__________________________________.________________________
ofk^’**^’ n ~‘’^~ M IwJ
[bus] m
: . 0 Erl!
? rA (i
H rp®i)i
rSb
OhliM L -| ‘ l o
—— - ; . .
t t • V
CARTOONISTS' VIEWS ON THE NEWS
/ —I
■ 1 .mws
Age: Enviable campaign liability?
The worst rap on Secretary of State
Lewis Massey is that he is too young to
be governor.
Recent revelations about the 35-year
old Democratic candidate indeed suggest
a youthful naivetd and gullibility that
hardly engender confidence in his bid for
the state’s No. 1 post.
His critics have accused him of several
ethical lapses. He has been charged with
using state cell phones and other taxpayer
resources to abet his campaign. A
Republican consultant, Will Hurst, has
found evidence that Massey, whose office
oversees elections, voted in Hall County
while claiming his legal residence was in
Fulton County.
These allegations hardly constitute
cardinal sins. But they may make some
voters wonder whether Massey should
wait a few years and learn more of life’s
lessons before he moves into the most
responsible job in state government.
A newcomer to the state might look at
our present geezer-governor, 66-year-old
Zell Miller, and wonder why a junior
politician such as Massey would even
dare to mount a gubernatorial bid.
The truth is, Miller is an exception to
Georgia’s recent history. Georgians like to
elect young governors.
Out of 21 governors to serve Georgia
in this century, only five were elected
after they were 50.
Miller was elected at 58, L. G.
Hardman at 71, Nat Harris at 68, and
Hoke Smith and Lester Maddox at 52.
Several of the state’s most accom
plished chief executives were elected
while they were in their 30s:
%,——*• w—
(wwnniwl £
/
STONEWALL, PART H
♦ < « <
1^ _ Bill
Shipp
• Ellis Arnall was chosen at 35. He
achieved vast reforms in prisons and edu
cation and became a symbol of a new and
more progressive southland. He was later
successful in repealing the last of the
Reconstruction Acts that had held back
the South economically since the end of
the Civil War.
• Carl Sanders moved into the gover
nor’s office when he was barely 37. His
tenure was noted for overhauling and
upgrading higher education. He also kept
the state on a steady and sane course dur
ing the turbulent civil rights era. More
senior southern governors preached defi
ance and brought economic harm to their
constituents.
• Herman Talmadge was elected gover
nor at 35. He gave the state its first sales
tax that provided a stream of revenue to
finance improved services and better
transportation. He later was elected to the
U.S. Senate.
• Richard Russell became governor at
32. He reorganized and streamlined state
government during the Depression era. He
later became a giant in the U.S. Senate
and exercised extensive influence on
national and international affairs.
• And Ernest Vandiver was elected
when he was 40. He was noted for saving
public schools from racist leaders who
demanded closing them. He also brought
sweeping reform to Georgia’s “snake pit”
mental hospitals.
Other southern states also have turned
to young governors who became national
leaders. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, Huey
Long of Louisiana and Frank Clement of
Tennessee were first elected while in their
30s.
Os course, this roll call of impressive
youthful governors is no guarantee that
young Massey would do all right as the
state’s chief executive.
In a remark harking back to Sen.
Lloyd Bentsen’s famous debate line, one
of Massey’s detractors smirked: “I knew
Ellis Arnall. And Lewis Massey is no
Ellis Arnall.” Besides, Massey’s
Democratic rivals for the office
• Roy Barnes, 50, David Poythress, 54,
and Steve Langford, 48 are hardly in their
dotage.
Even so, Gov. Miller has said privately
that if the state Democratic Party is to
survive as the dominant political force in
Georgia, it must recruit and elect younger
candidates. Massey seems to fit that per
ceived need perfectly.
Bill Shipp is editor of Bill Shipp's
Georgia, a weekly newsletter on govern
ment and business. He can be reached at
P. O. Box 440755, Kennesaw, GA 30144
or by calling (770) 422-2543, e-mail:
bshipp@bellsouth.net, Web address:
http://www. billshipp. com.